The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said yesterday that the estimated six million big and small online sellers of goods and services are required to register at the nearest district office on or before July 31.
Penalties would be slapped against late filers, although BIR Deputy Commissioner for Operations Arnel Guballa said the deadline might be extended.
He said, however, the collection of taxes will center on big enterprises including Lazada, Shopee, Amazon and foreign owned video streaming outfit NETFLIX.
He told the “Laging Handa” public forum that minimal trade like distribution of home cooked food is exempted from taxation.
He stressed that sellers are not liable to pay any tax if the yearly income is P250,000 and less.
But they are required to issue receipts to their customers which are readily available at district offices nationwide.
He advised online merchants not to worry about the registration as it’s main purpose is gathering data about this new trade which has been burgeoning due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Actually, he said the registration should have been started last year but was delayed due to the health crisis.
According to the trade department, there are more than six million online merchants but only one million is registered. (Jun Ramirez)
